Supersized food wars

Published 4:00 am, Friday, November 29, 2002

EVER SINCE Surgeon General David Satcher declared an obesity epidemic last December, Americans have been debating who is to blame.

Many people think individuals should bear responsibility for what they eat. Still others argue that the fast-food industry spends millions trying to seduce us all, particularly children, to consume its supersized portions of hamburgers, french fries and shakes.

This is America, so the debate has naturally turned into litigation. On one side are eight children suing McDonald's for failing to warn them that a daily diet of fast-food could leave them obese and susceptible to diabetes.

Their attorney accuses McDonald's of deliberately targeting children and argues that "Young individuals are not in a position to make a choice after the onslaught of advertising and promotions." If the case is not dismissed by the court, he plans to turn it into a class-action lawsuit on behalf of other children who claim that McDonald's has damaged their health.

McDonald's, for its part, is gearing up to prevent a precedent-setting product-liability lawsuit. "People don't go to sleep thin and wake up obese," their attorney countered in court. "The comprehension of what hamburger and french fries do has been with us for a long, long time."

Our view is that adults must be held accountable for their choices. Children, however, don't always have nutritional wisdom or parental supervision. And McDonald's does target them with extensive advertising, and reward them with toys -- even playgrounds.

It's good news that Americans are finally questioning what they eat. But the best place to have this discussion is not in court, but in homes and in schools.